We came to learn that he was allied with The First Order, a remnant of the Empire that remains a fearsome threat to the galaxy and its denizens. Above, he is seen flanked by their stormtroopers, striding with intense purpose through the smoldering ruins of a once peaceful village on Jakku.

“The movie explains the origins of the mask and where it’s from, but the design was meant to be a nod to the Vader mask,” Abrams tells EW. “Ren is well aware of what’s come before and that’s very much a part of the story of the film.”

“The lightsaber is something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character,” Abrams says.

It turns out — Kylo Ren isn’t the character’s real name. Or, at least, not the name he was born with. Remember how we eventually learned that “Darth” is not a first name, but a kind of title? It appears the surname “Ren” is something similar.

“HE IS A CHARACTER WHO CAME TO THE NAME KYLO REN WHEN HE JOINED A GROUP CALLED THE KNIGHTS OF REN” Abrams says.

There are many implications to this piece of Kylo Ren’s history. If he had a different name before aligning with these mysterious knights, maybe we’ve heard it before. Maybe we know… his parents?

FINN AND REY

Abrams isn’t ready to reveal their full identities, but did confirm that this theory was getting warm. “I will only say about that it is completely intentional their last names aren’t public record”

TEEDO (Kiran Shah) & LUGGABEAST

GENERAL HUX (Domhall Gleeson)

Hux is young for a general, according to the filmmaker, who says that in this scene the military leader stands in his command center, longing to reveal the full might of The First Order’s military power to an unsuspecting galaxy.

CAPTAIN PHASMA (Gwendoline Christie)

During preproduction, Abrams was reminded of Phantasm, a 1979 horror film that featured a gaunt, terrifying figure known as The Tall Man and a flying, silver sphere that bores into its victims’ bodies like a bullet crossed with a drill-tip.

“Phasma I named because of the amazing chrome design that came from Michael Kaplan’s wardrobe team. It reminded me of the ball in Phantasm, and I just thought, Phasma sounds really cool”

Join: January 22nd 2004 10:02 pmPosts: 993Location: south of Mars and north of Hell

Looks great, sounds great! The new tidbits about Kylo Ren and the Knights certainly add some deeper intrigue to the character beyond his physical coolness. As much as we're all jonesing for some new footage these images and details are a welcome surprise.

It is assumed the burning takes place at the beginning of the film where Kylo Ren goes Vietnam on a village housing Poe Dameron whose mission is to retrieve Luke's saber from Max Von Sydow's character. A stormtrooper (Pip Anderson) is killed which causes Finn to go AWOL. Poe and his droid BB-8 with Luke's saber inside are captured then escape with the aid of Finn. Finn, BB-8 and Poe land back on Jakku.

FINN AND REY

ew.com wrote: Abrams isn’t ready to reveal their full identities, but did confirm that this theory was getting warm. “I will only say about that that it is completely intentional that their last names aren’t public record”

>the lead character is Han and Leia's daughter>the other lead is the child of Lando, and either a male or female depending on who is cast>the other lead is a Stormtrooper, also either a male or female depending on who is cast

It's possible that Finn is not only stormtrooper yet a Calrissian as well in further drafts.

GENERAL HUX (Domhall Gleeson)

From ew.com; "Hux is young for a general, according to the filmmaker, who says that in this scene the military leader stands in his command center, longing to reveal the full might of The First Order’s military power to an unsuspecting galaxy", from the Celebration VII trailer, and from SDCC's Starkiller Base reveal, and another Mizzlewump March 2014 plot point is verified:

>The Empire still exists in the form of a number of loyal galaxies and are in a state of cold war with the Republic>the ruins within the Sith Homeworld are a control station; the planet itself is the weapon